Deathspank - Preview @ 1Up

by Dhruin, 2009-09-02 22:39:03

Well, well, well...Ron Gilbert's Deathspank has emerged from a lengthy period of "coming soon" for a preview at 1Up, which comes with 10 screens. Here's a bit on the combat in this Monkey Island-meets-Diablo concept:

But now I'm playing cut and paste with Gilbert's demonstration, because in-between the adventure game detailed above, there's an action-RPG where you spend time killing enemies like orcs and chickens, leveling-up, and collecting loot. The design goals for this half of the game seem centered around two concepts: making sure the combat requires strategy, and offering enough items so everyone who plays can customize their character as they choose.

The base mechanics work very simply -- you have direct control over your character, with a mix of melee and ranged attacks, and can lock-on if you want to attack someone specific. And as you kill enemies and complete quests, you earn XP to level up, which increases your health and strength, and allows access to certain level-locked weapons and pieces of armor.